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The trail of two railroads Appalachian scenery and small-town operations are featured in a layout with two shortline companies both competing and complementing each other BY MICHAEL WELCH of these are the transfer tracks where the loads of coal are left and the empties are •N the heyday of railroading, many small picked up. It would be quite possible to I railroads existed primarily to serve a make this operation realistic by using particular industry or to transport a single dummy loads of coal for the hoppers and product. Such railroads were often owned removing them after the ears have been by large companies, and they had transfer facilities wherever they made connection AMC's engine facilities are located here. with larger railroads. The imaginary Apache Mining Com- one engine. Two daily round trips are pany RR. and the Tombstone Valley & made to Topache, with the single engine Eagle Rock Gulch RR. are two such small performing all of the necessary switching lines that interchange with each other and duties en route. with secondary branches of two larger railroads. The AMC belongs to a coal mining company that owns one large mine and leases two smaller mines. AMC's base of operations is in Hagers- up an occasional load of tombstones from ville, where it interchanges with the the local factory. Due to the lack of roads L&N. At Tombstone Valley it interchanges with the TV&ERG. The Apache Mine is located up Carbon Creek near the rail's-end hamlet of Topache. This is the main revenue supplier of the line, but some coal also comes from the crusher at Gardenvale and a small mine at Potter. The TV&ERG's base of operations is in Eagle Rock Gulch. It interchanges with the Virginia Central at this point. The lumber industry and an iron mine provide the major income for the TV&ERG. The two railroads are set in the locale of the Appalachian Mountains near the Virginia-West Virginia border. Scenery is one of the most important elements of the layout. Since both railroads are short lines and the trackage is uncrowded, scenery can be used to heighten the effect of a wandering railroad, picking its way through the countryside to arrive at its destination with the least amount of difficultyand at a low construction cost. There are plenty of trees, to the point that at times trains on the TV&ERG get lost from sight. The effect can create the impression that the main line is much longer than it really is. At Hagersville, three of the AMC's tracks extend to the edge of the benchwork, creating the illusion of continuing onward to become part of the L&N. Two SCALE MODELED Drawing reduction 1: Normal turnout size Wldth of space Length of space Minimum radius SIZES IN INCHES Spacing of rulings SIZES IN MILLIMETERS Spacing of rulings Width of space Length of space Minimum radius November 1971 TOMBSTONE VALLEY & EAGLE ROCK GULCH RR. N APACHE MINING COMPANY RR. TT Maximum grade. main line Approx. no 6. all scales: scratchbuilt 2 percent, all scales 16 120 172 11 12 3050 4370 280 305 24 180 258 18 16.5 4515 6555 420 457 32 240 344 22 24 6100 8740 560 610 48 360 51G 33 36 13110 840 9150 914 HO S 0 1 1•1 - • + TV&ERG AMC NARROW GAUGE 1,t 1-1 11111111 0 64 480 688 44 48 12200 17480 1120 1220 TRACKAGE AT TOMBSTONE VALLEY DUAL-GAUGE STANDARD GAUGE The AMC picks up hoppers of coal and cars of sawed shoring timbers at Tombstone Valley. Ten small cars of iron ore are loaded daily at Apache. It also picks spotted for pickup by the L&N. The Due to the size of the railroad, it has only in this region the easiest method of crossing the mountain is to travel on the two railroads. There is a small amount of interline passenger service. The TV&ERG delivers its lumber prod- ucts to the transfer track in Eagle Rock Gulch and picks up general merchandise from the east coast. Much of this general merchandise continues on, via the AMC, to Hagersville. Engine facilities and the TV&ERG's carshops (also the AMC's) are located here. The sawmill of the Toothpick Timber Co. is located just outside of town. Both Durango and Lewiston are small towns that serve the people of their region and as such are mostly receiving towns for general merchandise. Between Durango and Lewiston, the Toothpick Timber Co. has its major logging operations. The land is only partially logged off, and since this company is one of the pioneers in the field of reforestation, much of its logging region is covered by new growth. Lewiston has a unique industry in the form of a coalyard. It operates on a reverse principle to that of the usual coalyard. Small individual miners bring their wagonloads of coal to the yard. It is then massed together and shipped out by carloads. Just outside Tombstone Valley at Glen- coe is a small charcoal plant that uses slash and low-grade timber, and ships via both railroads. In Tombstone Valley, the TV&ERG has engine facilities and maintains the transfer facilities for the two railroads. The TV&ERG runs a single round trip daily and has as many special logging trains as are necessary. These railroads might best be modeled to represent the predepression era; when relatively heavy traffic still made them a paying venture. It would be a simple matter to make one of the railroads a narrow-gauge line: possibly the AMC. This would provide some interesting interchange facilities and dual-gauge trackwork at both Tombstone Valley and Hagersville. Another variation would be to increase the grade on the AMC from 2 percent to 3.5 percent between Tombstone Valley and Topache, thus making it necessary to double the hill or use a helper. The arrangement of the aisles allows the engineer to follow the route of his train at all times. Walkaround control would be a cinch as long as the aisles were provided wide enough at spots to allow operators to pass each other. With the use of individual control panels mounted in the side of the benchwork, one could control his train without the nuisance of dragging cablework. Since it is possible to reach all parts of the layout, hand-thrown turnouts can be used, heightening the operating realism. 41